Cotton-chopper.



W. S. RODERICK & A. J. WARNER.

COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLICATION FILED D110. 20, 1911,

Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

WITNESSES: I

COLUMBIA PMNOORAPH 120., WASHINGTON. D. c.

W. S. RODERICK & A. J. WARNER.

I COTTON CHOPPER.

APPLIOATION FILED 1120.20, 1911.

1,056,123. Patented Mar. 18, 1913.

s? v i 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

32 m Q 17 as In u n I 7 WITNESSES 415? Aizomey;

COLUMBIA PLANOURAPH CO..\7VASH1NGTON. D. :4

UNITED STATES PATENT QFFICEQ.

\NILLIAM S. RODERICK AND ANDREW J. WARNER, OF DURHAM, NORTH CAROLINA,

COTTON-CHOPPER.

Application filed December 20, 1911.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that we, WVILLIAM S. Ronnnrox and Axnnnw J. am na, citizens of the United States, residing at Durham, in the county of Durham and State of North Carolina, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Cotton-Choppers; and we do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled 1n the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

Our invention relates to new and useful improvements in cotton choppers and particularly to a device adapted to be used in the cultivation of cotton.

The object of our invention is to provide a device having means for working the soil adjacent rows of cotton plants.

A further object of our invention is to provide cotton choppers for automatically thinning rows of cotton, and, a further ob ject of our invention is to so construct our device that the chopper blades may be moved out of operative position when meeting an obstruction.

Other objects and advantages will be hereinafter made clearly apparent in the specification and pointed out in the claims.

In the accompanying drawings we have shown the preferred form which our inven tion may take.

In said drawings, Figure 1 is a longitudinal sectional view through our device. Fig: '2 is a transverse sectional. view therethrough. Fig. 3 is a side elevation showing our preferred form of clutch mechanism for the chopper members, and, Fig. i is a vertical sectional view through one of the chopper blades and holding means therefor.

Referring to the drawings in which similar reference numerals designate corresponding parts throughout the several views, 5 is a substantially rectangular supporting frame adapted to carry the parts of our device, in which is rotatably mounted a driving shaft 6, to the ends of which are secured driving and supporting wheels 7 An auxiliary frame 8 in the shape of an upwardly extending semicircular arch, has its ends connected to the 'main frame at points adjacent said axle and an auxiliary frame 9 also in the form of an upwardly extending semi-circular arch has one end connected to the upper portion of the frame 8 and its forward end connected to the cen- Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented as. 18, 1913.

Serial No. 686,906.

ter portion of said frame 5. Secured to the forward and rear ends of said supporting frame are pairs of cultivating plows 10, which are rigidly secured to plow'holders 11. The plow holders 11 are preferably substantially rectangular in cross section and pivotally mounted in a housing 12, which is substantially U-shaped in cross section, the open end of said housing being rearwardly directed. Secured to the side of said housing, by means of a bolt 13 or other desired manner, is a spring 14, the lower end of said spring bearing against or carrying a pin 15, which extends through one side of the housing. The inner end of the pin 15 is rounded and is adapted to normally rest in a semicircular seat formed in one side of the plow holder 11. In order that the pressure of the spring 14 upon said pin 15 may be increased or decreased, a bolt 16 is extended through the central portion of said spring, said bolt being screw threaded and adapted to take into a screw threaded seat in one side of the housing. By adjusting the bolt 16, pressure of the spring upon the pin may be regulated. By this construction it will be seen that should one of the plows meet with an obstruction such as a large stone, stump, etc., the pressure exerted upon the end of the plow would cause the pin 15 to be forced out of its seat to allow the plow holder to move upon its pivot, thus allowing the plow to ride over the obstruction.

The upper end of the housing 12 has rigidly secured thereto an upwardly extending stem or rod 17, which passes through a housing 18 secured to the transverse portion of the frame 5. The stem 17 is movable vertically in said housing 18 so that the depth to which the plows 10 will work may be regulated. When the plows 10 have been adjusted so as to work to a predetermined depth, a set screw 19 extending through the housing 18 is turned so as to clamp the stem 17 in the desired position.

In order that the plow after passing over an obstacle may be again moved into operative position, the rear of each plow holder is provided with a pin 20, which is adapted to take into a slot 21 formed in one end of a lever 22. The levers 22, for operating the forward pair of cultivator plows, are pivotally secured between their ends to the forward portion of the frame 5 and the upper end of said levers are pivotally secured to rods 533.. which are eXtended reari'ardtv to a. point adjacent: the oporators llhe perator scat Q l is pi. .crahly secured to tlv auxiliary frame 8.. hilt) pair of plows 10 secured to the rezr portion of the :tranie 5 have their operating levers extended to convennmt oints adjacent in: qwerators seat. l

in order that a row oil. cotton may he thinned at. letter-vale, we provide ehopner nwuihe"; which will remove the cotton at intervals in the row. i'trranged longitudinal I of the center of the me is shaft :25. which has its tor-ward end jouropernt in? naled in the forward end oi? the :tran'ie and its rear end riun'naled in hearing hlo it: 96.

seen in l l the shatt 1." in I. 1e same hmiicontal plane as and the hearing block 26 is provide transverse here to reeeive said shaft bevel gear 2? seeiu'cd by means screw 28. or in other desired suitable ner to the shaft and is adapted when machine is in operation to mesh with a hevel one" 'ried by the shaft. (3. The gear 2%) L ,4! is caused move with said sh t t by means 30 which is pretera r. oil? the rib 7 Jlv formed integrally with said shaft, h me he moved longitudinally of said shaft hv means lever 31. The lever 31 is nivoted at its lower end to a lunch e ndiug from one side of the trains and. said lever is also pivotallv seeiu'ed intermediate ends to a collar The collar 33 tits in a groove formed in sleeve lt torined. integrz llv with said {rear By this means i 1e gear 99 may he moved into or out of inesh with said 27. Also rigidly seemed to the shaft 25 is a sleeve novided at one end with a. radial flange The sleeve 35 is secured in. 1 lace hv ineai s at a set screw ltlhe Flange is spaced a slight distance troni the ends of the hovel near and a a h or hoh 3S tI-l ro'tiatahtv mounted therehetiveen. tlaid dish" is provldeth upon the side ad aeeut said flange 36, with pluralessions tor a purpose itv of d e or 'iereintv a tter more c he flange through which a iin ll c2;- 1 'T i .p Leno. the inner ene. or said pin is rounded and adapt d he normally seat in one of the depressions 39. for a nnrpos hereinafter more c earlv set. forth. in order th at he pin t :rmv he in enially seated in one ot the e. the sleeve with 1 ins; pins 4-2. The pins 42 are arranged at right anges to one another and upon the opposite side of the sleeve from said sessions 89. we prov a pair 01 radially e t A. dis: 3 is .ecselv disposed. upon the sleeve a:

pin l-l.

provi c. a point dia to the loca mates of the pin ill, with an internally threaded bore, in which is adapted. to he ted a set. screw or hell tl- By rota ting said set screw in. the proper direction. the disk 4:3 will he :torced against the pins il-2 and the upper end of said disk will engage the outer end The o the pin 1 to hold said pin in place.

dist: i is termed ot spring material. and will. hold the pin l t under tension. ll) rt "ow a l: the amount oil."

tl'll'lll the set St tension under which he regulated.

The dish or huh .351 is provided with av pluralit of radially attending arms 4th. .ln the drawn we have shown said huh or dish provided with tour arms, but it will he und .ood. that the nun her of arms may he in eth as (lee-sired. ltach arm l5 is provided. with a longitudinal hore adapted to t. the shank of the chopper nieinhe" or cultivator hoe 1 G. lilach hoe 4:6 is positioned in its arm to so that in operation the culti- 1. the pin it) is held may v: tor blade on the end thereof will work to the desired depth and the hoe 18 then clamped 111, such position by means oi? set screw 45?. changing the size of the eultivating hoes 4.6, the number of plants cut down by each hoe may be increased or de cr ased, desired.

1 the in achini is 111 operation. and one 'lecs 46 comes into engagement with an ohstacle such as a stone or stuinp the sleeve will continue to rotate and the pro, M will he forced out Oli the depression. and

I'.L allow the huh 38 to remain stationary relatire to the sleeve and sh ft 253 until said pin seated in the succeeding depression, by wnieh time the forward movement of the machine will. cause the hoes to clear the stone. stump or other obstr iction. in order th t the forward end of the frame may he 1L supported, wheel l? is pivotally secured in a. frame 48, which in turn 18 pivotally setan-ed to the forward per 011 of said frame in order that the machine may he pulled over the ground we secure to the forward end Off the auxiliary frame 9, or to some other suitable position. a. housing shown ll the drawing the housing L9 is cup shaped and has base secured to said trnne 9 by means of bolts 50. A tongue 51' its rear end extended into the housing and is secured therein by a transversely aiding; bolt 52. l i hen it is desired the. fears 52'? and 29 may be reversed so that the r. speed oi: rotation of the drain 38 may he ohanaed.

TIOTQ the foregoing; it will be seen that we have pr vided a. device whereby plants may he oultivz ted and thinned to the de sired deeree. it will also be seen that we have provided means whereby breakage of the cultivating plows and chopping; hoes will he prevented.

While we have described our invention as particularly adapted for use in the cultivation of cotton, we desire it to be understood that the same may be used for the cultivation and thinning of any other kind of plant. W'e also desire it to be understood that certain modifications may be made in our device as shown, without departing from the spirit and scope of our invention.

lVhat we claim as new is:

1. In a cotton chopper a horizontal and rotatable shaft, a hub rotatably mounted on the shaft and carrying cultivator blades, said hub having a depression in one end thereof, a flanged sleeve fixed to the shaft and having an aperture through the flange, a pin extending through the aperture and adapted to engage the depression, and spring means to normally hold said pin in engagement with said depression.

2. In a cotton chopper, a horizontal and rotatable shaft, a hub rotatably seated on the shaft and carrying cultivator blades, a flanged sleeve fixed on the shaft and having an aperture through the flange, said hub having spaced depressions adapted to register alternatively with said aperture, a pin movably seated in the aperture and adapted to alternatively engage and to disengage the depressions in the hub, a spring disk surrounding said sleeve and exerting a pressure upon said pin and means associated with the sleeve and with the flange thereof for holding said pin normally in one of the depressions, the last said means embracing means for adjusting the pressure of the spring disk upon the pin.

3. In a cotton chopper a horizontal and rotatable shaft, a hub rotatably mounted on the shaft and carrying cultivator blades, said hub having a depression in one end. thereof, a flanged sleeve fixed to the shaft and having an aperture through the flange, a pin movably seated in said aperture and normally adapted to extend into said depression, a spring disk surrounding said sleeve and having one side engaging the outer end of said pin, a stop on said sleeve to limit the movement of said disk, and a stop adjustably engaging said flange and the side of said disk opposite said pin whereby the pressure of said disk upon said pin may be varied.

In testimony whereof we have signed our names to this specification in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

XVILLIAM S. RODERICK. ANDREW J. WARNER. WVitnesses:

K. P. LEWIS, P. E. MORAN.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. G. 

